Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iranian-backed terrorist organization, was confirmed dead on Saturday following an Israeli airstrike targeting him Friday afternoon in Beirut, Lebanon.
The terror group confirmed Nasrallah’s death in a statement claiming that he was a “great martyr” who died “following the treacherous Zionist airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.”
Hezbollah has fired more than 8,100 missiles, rockets, and drones at Israel since Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack, displacing tens of thousands of civilians in northern Israel who were forced to evacuate their homes and have not been allowed to return.
The Chief of the General Staff for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), LTG Herzi Halevi said, “Nasrallah wanted to destroy Israel—we eliminated him.”
“Nasrallah indiscriminately murdered Israeli civilians and aimed to end this war with the destruction of the State of Israel. We made sure that did not occur,” he continued. “We eliminated him, and we will continue to grow stronger. Hezbollah has murdered innocent people worldwide, hiding his weapons under the homes of families, women and children and turning them into human shields. As we have shown, we will not allow such a threat to our citizens!”
Halevi said that Israel will continue military operations to ensure that it completely destroys the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world. pic.twitter.com/gBWxK9FW2F
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) September 28, 2024
Joe Truzman, senior research analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) told The Daily Wire that the elimination of Nasrallah will pose a “significant challenge for Hezbollah” in terms of replacing him and rebuilding an “organization at serious risk of decline.”
He said he believes Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will intervene to help Hezbollah stay afloat as it tries to avoid falling apart.
“Hezbollah has the arsenal to threaten Israel, and it does not need Iran to respond against Israel on its behalf,” he said. “The IRGC can provide strategic guidance to Hezbollah in its responses to Israel, which may not necessarily take the form of rocket strikes or direct military action on Israeli territory. Both Hezbollah and the IRGC possess assets globally that enable them to target Israeli interests, creating opportunities for coordinated operations against the Jewish State in various arenas.”
